Featured Blog Posts – August 2015 Archive (18)

The Padrón Dámaso is the first full production cigar line to be introduced by Padrón in a long time. And when I say "a long time," we're talking about 14 years. Add all that up, plus the fact that the Dámaso utilizes an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, you have the most talked about new release of ICPPR 2015.

The Dámaso is hitting stores now and is available in the following sizes:

While Warped had some exciting releases showcased at the 2015 IPCPR trade show, it's what wasn't showcased that has gotten my attention. Cigars like Corto, Don Reynaldo Regalos and Futuro were released with all retailers and consumers to know, but with those releases was a cigar called Lirio Rojo that has managed to fly under the radar. Which is what the company intended. The cigar was made and distributed to only a…

The Crux Guild's wrapper is a dark, oily brown, with some good sized veins and you can see rolling lumps from the tobacco underneath. As though it was produced using a soft press, but the construction seems great. The aroma is a leather and spicy earth/tobacco mix. Quite fragrant and very pleasing. The cold draw is quite spicy and it really hits me in the back of the throat. Also, it was extremely hot outside so I smoked at my B&M and my pictures just didn't come out.

The original 6”x52 RG Toro Nica Rustica, the El Brujito, was released at the 2013 IPCPR. While I may have not officially rated it as a box buy, I can assure you that I have gone through several 25 count bundles already.

At the 2015 IPCPR, Drew Estate announced the release of 2 additional vitolas. The 4-1/2”x50 Short Robusto and the 7-1/2”x54 Belly. Jonathan Drew’s press release statement about the new sizes:

13 months ago, Kyle Gellis of Warped Cigars announced that they would be releasing a limited edition cigar out of the well known Miami factory, El Titan de Bronze. The cigar would be limited to only 100 boxes of ten, and would be called Don Reynaldo Coronas De Luxe. The cigar was named in honor of Kyle Gellis' father, and it was a cigar being made as a tribute to the years in which his father educated Kyle on the world of cigars. With the popularity and successes of Warped Cigars, the cigar…

Chris Arolfo of Cabal Cigars has released a Limited Production cigar named after his late mother, Linda. She passed in 2013 after losing the battle with a rare brain disorder known as frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. This cigar commemorates her memory and will be a yearly release. It's also really neat that the name on the band is Linda Arolfo's actual signature. Only 500 boxes of 14 cigars will be…

Earlier this year, MoyaRuiz Cigars announced their first limited edition. The cigar would be called The Chinese Finger Trap, and while the news of a new cigar was appealing, it became even sexier when the packaging was revealed. The company announced limited pieces of information on the cigar, and when it came to the blend they did not disclose a single piece of information. In fact, they said the blend was an "ancient Chinese secret." What is interesting about the blend…

Certainly one of the booths I was looking forward to at the IPCPR 2015 in New Orleans was Warped. Kyle Gellis hit the market with a bang in 2014 with multiple cigars scoring quite high from many sites.

The Flor Del Valle Sky Flower is a follow up to the 2014 release that incorporates Casa Fernandez’s AGANORSA medio tiempo tobacco in the filler.

The Sky Flower is released as a limited run, single vitola in 10 count boxes.

The Crux du Connoisseur was one of two new regular production cigars from Crux to debut at IPCPR 2015 in New Orleans. The Crux boys also announced their first Limited Edition cigar called Limitada PB5 and the addition of Crux Sports.

The release dates of the new Crux cigars are staggered throughout the fall.

The newest release from Crowned Heads at IPCPR 2015 was La Imperiosa, which is actually the same blend as the Las Calaveras '14. Some of the big differences between the two is that La Imperiosa is a regular production cigar, where the LC'14 was a limited edition, and La Imperiosa is being offered in all new sizes. Because LC'14 sold out so fast, most people didn't even get a chance to try one, Crowned Heads decided to remedy that by releasing the cigar again. Check…

In 1995, a company by the name of Maya Selva Cigars entered into the cigar industry and entered in the European market rather than the United States. They started out in France, and they started out with a Connecticut release from Honduras titled Flor de Selva. Well,…

I reviewed the original Cuatro Cinco by Joya de Nicaragua back in January of 2014, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. When I heard they were revisiting the release I was pretty excited to get my hands on samples to review.

They will be released as ten count boxes in vitolas of Petit Corona (4-1/2x46), Doble Robusto (5x56), Torpedo…

"The circus is the place for me with bears and clowns and noise I love the shiny music that descends from overhead"-Phish "Roggae"

Beginning in High School up until the point I had my first son, I would spend my time following the band Phish around at every opportunity I had. Sometimes I would just be able to make one show in a run, and sometimes I'd hit up 10 straight along the NorthEast and Mid-Atlantic. Having a June…

La Mission is the latest (and strongest) release form L'Atelier Imports. La Mission is a soft box press and is currently available in three sizes with four more on the way. I had a chance to sit down and chat with Casper at IPCPR and he gave us the low down on La Mission and the new Racine.…

Black Label Trading Co. has become a big name in the cigar industry since their entrance in 2013; and for me their special releases have been their apex's. In the fall of 2014 the company released Deliverance, a two vitola limited edition series, and it was a release that received positive feedback and high ratings. In July of this year the company announced that they would be expanding the series, and besides adding two new vitolas, the company was…

When we went into IPCPR 2015 this year in New Orleans, one of the booths we were looking forward to spending time in was Warped Cigars. Last year the company made a big splash with their booth design, packaging and of course the cigars released. You can imagine our excitement when we met up with Kyle Gellis this past July. There was a nice selection of new releases on display, and today we look at one these selections, the Futoro.

For the past two year, Davidoff Cigars has left their "comfort zone" and released cigars that were not the "norm" when you thought of Davidoff. In no way have they lost or sacrificed anything that would make these cigars "not Davidoff releases," but instead have released cigars that have tapped into sources that Davidoff was not fully hitting before. This new policy of Davidoff began with the Davidoff Nicaragua, continued onwards with the…

The Undercrown Shade was introduced by Drew Estate at the 2015 IPCPR trade show in New Orleans. The Shade is the first cigar blended for Drew Estate by Master Blender Willie Herrera that is not part of the Herrera Esteli line. In our interview with Willie at IPCPR he went so far as to call the Undercrown Shade his "baby."